Cabin Fever

by Edie Bryant

  “Is something wrong?” she asked immediately. She knew me too well.

  “Actually, kind of, Sarah and I broke up.”

  “Aw, sorry, girl. That fucking blows. What happened?”

  “You know, I don’t know. Nothing really happened. I guess I think it was just my frustration with her pretty much always being an asshole. I just didn't want to deal with it anymore, so… here I am.”

  “Fuck, yeah, honestly, girl, the chick always seemed like kind of a bitch to me. You really are better off. You’re too good of a woman for that bullshit.”

  “Thanks,” I sighed. “Any chance you’re free this weekend? I really just need to get out of the house.”

  “Aw, no, I’m sorry. I’m actually with Garrett’s family for the entire weekend. It’s his parents’ fortieth anniversary.”

  Garrett was her husband; they’d been married for a couple years, and he was a total sweetheart. So was his entire family, actually.

  “Oh, it’s okay!” I said, eager to not sound irritated by this. “Maybe we can catch up when you get back.”

  I tried to hide the sadness in my voice, because I really didn’t want to be alone, but Jean heard through it.

  “You know, I know you probably don’t want to be by yourself, but, if you want to get away, you can always go up to my cabin for the weekend.”

  “Seriously?” I asked, a little excited by the idea.

  I didn’t really want to be by myself, but the idea of a solitary weekend up in the mountains didn’t sound too bad. And I loved Jean’s cabin. She’d bought it a few years ago, and she uses it both as a vacation home for her husband and her and as a rental to anyone who might want to use it. It was a good opportunity for a little side income.

  “Yeah, girl, it’s yours! Go up there, enjoy, and we’ll catch up when I come back next week. The key is in the lock box next to the door. I’ll text you the code.”

  “Awesome! Thanks, you are seriously the best friend a girl could ask for.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I try. I’ll text you, I gotta go back inside.”

  “Yeah, text me, see ya.” I hung up.

  I was immediately energized at the thought of going up to her cabin. I bet it was snowing right now, too. God, I would love to just take some books up there, soak in the clawfoot tub, and watch the snow drift along the windowsill. If I had to be alone this weekend, this was the perfect way to do it.

  I immediately went to work packing all of my warm clothes. In just a few hours, I’d be in Jean’s cabin in the mountains, totally forgetting all about Sarah and her bullshit.

  2

  Emily

  YOU KNOW, I’m fine with this. Yeah, this is totally okay, this is a perfectly fine vacation. More than fine, even, it’s great!

  I sighed as I sat down on the couch next to the fire. This was the first vacation I’d taken by myself in… well, maybe forever. I don’t think I’ve ever vacationed by myself. Not completely, anyway.

  When I had booked this cabin, I wasn’t supposed to have been coming here alone. I had been going to come with my best friend, Alex, but obviously that had fallen through.

  Though, I don’t blame Alex at all. Her father had gotten into a car accident unexpectedly, and, of course, she’d flown down to be with him. Though he’s going to be okay, he was going to need some help around the house for the few weeks he was recovering.

  Which left me here, alone, trying to enjoy a solitary vacation.

  I’d tried to find someone else to come with me, but I didn’t have many other friends besides Alex, and my family all lives too far away to tag along on a weekend vacation like this. I mean, they could fly out if they really wanted, but that seemed excessive for a weekend cabin vacation. Plus, most of us had to set money aside to go home for the Christmas holiday and visit our parents, so a lot of them were tapped out.

  But, I had decided to come on this vacation anyway, because it had been too late to get a full refund, and I had really needed the vacation. I’d been working my ass off lately, and, besides the Christmas holiday, this would be the only time off I’d get all year. And these vacation days would dry up in January, so I might as well take them.

  But what the hell was I supposed to do in a cabin by myself?

  There are probably plenty of people who would love a vacation like this. They’d spend their time reading next to the fire, having movie marathons, enjoying the very light snow that was beginning to coat the earth. For any introvert, it was the perfect winter wonderland for a peaceful get-away.

  But I don’t like peaceful that much. I am extroverted to my core, and, to keep me entertained, I need people.

  Not a lot of people, mind you. Like I said, I don’t have a very large crowd of friends, and I don’t surround myself with many people. But that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable just being by myself. I need at least one other person around to keep me entertained and engaged.

  I got bored enough just going back to my condo at the end of the day and watching television by myself. I spent a lot of my time texting the few friends I do have, as well as my family.

  But I couldn’t even do that up here, because my reception was absolute shit. I was totally, completely on my own, and I hated every second of it. So much for relaxing, I guess.

  Life had been a lot easier when I’d had a girlfriend. I’ve only had two live-in relationships in my life, and they’d both lasted only a year. I had quickly learned from being with them that my ideal living situation is with one other person. Somebody I’m very close to, though, like a romantic partner. I wouldn’t do well living with a strange, new roommate.

  No, I needed more than that, I needed someone who would hang out with me. Someone I could have dinner and cuddle with and just generally be around. Someone who loved me and was willing to give me enough time and attention.

  Obviously, that hadn’t work out with either girl, though. Not that I had been particularly heartbroken over either of them. I had loved them, I think, but it just hadn't been ever very strong or intense for me. Neither of them had felt like ‘the one,’ which ultimately is why they had both ended.

  And I don’t regret that they did. Because, more than anything, I want to find that ‘one’ everyone always talks about. I don’t ever want to catch myself in a relationship that lacks passion. I want to be with someone I am absolutely crazy about. And, with those relationships over, there’s room to possibly meet that person that I’ll fall for.

  I was a true hopeless romantic. I’ll admit it, I watch way too many romantic comedies. And, yes, I read a lot of romance books. Mostly because there just aren’t that many movies with two lesbian romantic leads entering into a relationship together.

  Which is what I want to see. I want the kind of love I seek with another woman represented in the movies and shows I watch. And, until that happens, I’ll have to get my fix with indie lesbian romances.

  Hey, maybe that’s what I could do right now! I did have my e-reader with me, and I had downloaded a few new books last week. That’s what I’d do. I'd crack open one of them and go from there.

  I hadn’t had a lot of time to read lately, anyway. Not with work taking up all of my time. Like I said, this is what an introvert would be doing with their time right now, right? No reason I couldn’t enjoy it.

  But, just as I was trying to pick from one of my stories, I heard someone walking up the steps of the porch. It literally made me jump.

  It’s weird, because there weren’t any nearby cabins to this one. It was very isolated up here in the snowy woods. I couldn’t imagine a reason that somebody would be knocking.

  As it turned out, nobody was knocking, though. I heard them shuffle around the porch, and, then, without warning, I heard a key began to shift in the door.

  Oh my god, someone is fucking breaking in! Someone is breaking in, and, here I am, in the middle of the woods, by myself, completely unarmed!

  Naturally, I went into complete panic mode. I went searching for something, anything that I coul
d potentially use as a weapon to protect myself. In that moment, I was convinced I was about to be robbed…. or murdered… or robbed and murdered!

  I had no idea which, I just knew that there was literally no possible sensible reason that somebody would be walking into my cabin right now.

  I jumped up, and, as the girl walked in, I lunged to grab the nearest lamp. It was one of those long, sturdy, stand-alone lamps that sits on the middle of the floor. Not the worst thing I could have grabbed.

  “I have a weapon!” I yelled, as I grabbed it. She was already in the cabin, and, to my surprise, she looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see her.

  “Woah!” she yelled, putting her hands up immediately. “I’m-I’m, uh—” she stuttered, as she tried to think of an excuse for why she was here.

  Okay, I was actually considerably less scared now. Obviously, this girl didn’t have a weapon, and she didn’t seem like the kind of girl who wanted to hurt me or anyone else. Not that I was setting my lamp down, of course! My guess was that she still had come to rob the place, but maybe she had thought the cabin was empty this time of year.

  “Spit it out! Who are you?” I demanded.

  “My name is Liz… my friend owns this cabin, and she told me I could come stay in it for the weekend. Who are you?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I’m Emily, and I rented out this cabin for the weekend.”

  Liz’s hand flung to her head. “You’re kidding me… goddammit, hold on. Let me call her.”

  She pulled out her phone and started dialing, and I slowly, embarrassed, put the lamp back on the floor. Although, I guess maybe that wasn’t the best idea. For all I know, this could just be a trick to catch me off-guard, and this girl actually didn’t know the cabin owner at all.

  But I didn’t get that vibe. I’m pretty good at reading people, and I was convinced that this girl really hadn’t expected to see me here and had no intention of doing anything criminal tonight.

  “Hey, so, uh… I’m at the cabin, and someone else is here. Did you maybe forget you had a booking this weekend?” she began on the phone. “Yeah, check, please…”

  We both waited a moment as her friend got back to her. Then Liz let out a loud sigh. “Well, all right, then. No, yeah, it’s fine. Shit happens, no real harm done. Yeah, will do.” She hung up.

  “What’d she say?” I asked.

  “She told me to give you her sincerest apologies and to let you know she’ll be calling to apologize herself. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you won’t blame my friend. I kind of caught her off guard by asking if I could come here last minute after a personal emergency, and she had wanted to help me so badly, she just didn’t think it through. I’m really sorry to have scared you.”

  “No, it’s fine, I totally understand,” I said, feeling guilty that I had nearly hit the poor girl with a lamp, “but that really sucks. Did you drive far to get here?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Only four hours. It’s not terrible, but eight hours in the car is going to be annoying. Anyway, thank you for being understanding, and I really hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

  She picked up her bag that she had dropped on the floor once she had seen me with the lamp and began heading back out the door. I glanced out the window to see the sun was already going down. It must have been about five, and I realized this poor girl was going to have to drive back in the dark on icy roads.

  “Hey, wait!” I stopped her.

  She turned around. “Yes?”

  “Would you want to just stay for the night? I really don’t feel good about sending you out on the road in the dark in conditions like this.”

  “Oh, no, no, no!” she said quickly. “I couldn’t do that to you. This is your vacation. You paid for this. I’m not going to intrude because of my friend’s mistake.”

  “You really wouldn’t be intruding! As I’m sure you know, there are two rooms in this cabin, and it’s only me here. I really don’t mind if you stay for the night. Actually, I insist on it. If something happened to you tonight, I would never be able to forgive myself.”

  And, if I’m being totally honest, I kind of wanted her to stay for other reasons. First of all, I was incredibly bored and lonely here. Another face, no matter how unfamiliar, would be a blessing for the night. And, second of all, this girl was a total cutie. I know that shouldn’t really be a factor in my decision, especially considering she was probably not even gay, but I couldn’t stop myself from fantasizing about her a bit. At the very least, she’d be nice eye-candy for the night.

  She thought on this for a moment. “You’re sure I won’t be bothering you?”

  “Absolutely not! Seriously, I was getting a little bored here by myself, anyway. You’d be doing me a favor.” I gave her a sideways smile.

  “Yeah… yeah, okay! That sounds great, actually. I really was a little worried about driving back in the dark. There are no mountains where I am and no snow, so I’m not really accustomed to the road conditions.”

  “Yeah, me neither. I live a few hours away, too, and the thought of driving home right now sounds like a nightmare.”

  She nodded. “Let me just go put my stuff in my room, and I’ll come back down? You… want to hang out, right?”

  “Absolutely!” I said eagerly.

  “Perfect… okay, then, see you in a second.”

  3

  Liz

  THIS WAS SUCH A WEIRD SITUATION. And it was even weirder that I was actually happy that I’d walked into it.

  I know I came out here for solitude, to get some peace of mind after everything that had happened with my ex. But, as I had been driving here for hours by myself, I had realized quickly how much I didn’t want to be alone.

  The longer I existed in complete solitude, the more I obsessed about everything that wasn’t going right in my life. And, objectively, I guess there wasn’t that much that’s really going wrong. But, my romantic life was a disaster, and this wasn’t how I imagined things would be at twenty-seven.

  I’d thought I’d be engaged by now, at the very least, if not married to a woman whom I truly loved and who truly loved me. Instead, I’d managed to get myself into toxic relationship after toxic relationship.

  It was starting to feel like I was never going to find ‘the one,’ if ‘the one’ even existed. I’d been getting so damn depressed about it on my way here that I’d almost had myself convinced that I’d been wrong to dump my ex. Maybe life with her is as good as it gets, I had thought to myself.

  I know that isn’t true, or, at least, I really hope it isn’t, but, when every single person you date ends up having major flaws, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It kind of seems like everyone you meet is just going to end up having some bad habits or flaws with which you can’t live.

  But the way my ex had treated me had been just completely unacceptable. It was no way to live, being with someone who never saw the good in you. Who hadn’t even bothered to say, ‘I love you’ anymore.

  Still, I think if I’d had to stay alone in this cabin for the entire damn weekend, I’d eventually have myself convinced that it would have been exactly what I’d needed to do. I’d have gotten so exhausted with the loneliness, I’d have either turned to her or one of my other equally toxic exes.

  So, I was thrilled to actually be able to hang out with someone! A really cute someone, at that. Not that I was going to make a move on her! Absolutely not, she had been kind enough to let me stay in the cabin when she was paying for it. I was totally intruding on her vacation. I definitely wasn’t going to make her uncomfortable by making advances that I was sure she didn’t want.

  It would just be nice to hang out with someone. She seemed nice, and I was sure we could find an enjoyable way to pass the time. Though, you’d think a girl who’d come to a cabin alone for a weekend as a vacation wouldn’t want to spend that time with someone else.

  I wasn’t going to question it, though. This was ideal for me. I was just thril
led to not be alone.

  When I came back downstairs, I heard the teakettle screeching as Emily pulled it off the stove.

  “Hey, are you a tea drinker? There are, like, a bunch of teas in the cabinet here if you want some?”

  That’s weird, Jean was definitely not a tea drinker. This must have been one of those things she did so that her guests were more comfortable.

  “Sure, I’d love some. Is there any green tea?”

  “Yep! And that’s exactly what I was going to have, too!” she smiled at me.

  Something about her smile was already getting me. She was just… unbelievably cute. I mean, really adorable. I know I have to stay away, but it’s gonna be hard if she keeps smiling at me like that.

  “So, I hope this isn’t intruding,” she began, as she poured the hot water into two mugs and handed me one, “but what is it that brings you here? I mean, since you said your friend let you stay here after something personal happened…”

  I laughed awkwardly. We were cutting right to the chase here. For some reason, I felt hesitant to tell her that I had recently had a break-up. It was a little personal for someone I had just met who had almost slammed me over the head with a lamp.

  But, hey, what the hell! I didn’t know the girl, and I wasn’t going to have to see her after tonight. So what if things got a little weird or awkward?

  “Well, I actually broke up with my girlfriend of a few years,” I admitted. “And it’s not, like, a tragedy or anything, but I really didn’t want to stay home after that. Jean suggested I come up here to her cabin.”

  Maybe I was imagining, but I swear, her face lit up a little bit when I said I had broken up with my girlfriend. But that couldn’t be right, right? This girl seemed so sweet. I didn’t think she’d celebrate in my pain, unless…

  No, that couldn’t be it. I thought for a moment maybe she was also gay and was just happy to hear I was, too, but that was just wishful thinking.